The race for Defensive Player of the Year feels more open this season than it has in the past — due in large part to Aaron Donald not threatening the all-time single-season sack record this time around — but a player with a legitimate case for the award is being practically ignored league-wide: Minnesota Vikings linebacker Eric Kendricks.
Let’s start with the most basic point: he’s the highest-graded linebacker in the NFL in overall PFF grade (90.7), which is a figure we come to after an exhaustive play-by-play grading of every player in the NFL.